Anytime I have a question….I always think that someone in here will have the answer.
Here’s my question.
My eyes are bad for reading close and I don’t like to wear bifocals. I have to remove my glasses to see close and I’m having difficulty seeing the markings on my aluminum square. My squares are all aluminum and theres no paint in the markings.
Does anyone have a suggestion as to how to fill the markings with something that will stick besides mud?
blue
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information…don’t listen to me..just ask Gabe!
Replies
Try a sharpie or other indelible marker, very fine sand paper after dry.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
You can get that phoshorus glow in the dark stuff they use on watch dials and gun sights. That would be cool.
Who Dares Wins.
A framing sqaure anecdote: I keep a steel framing square in my truck, and several years ago we were working in a driving rainstorm and were getting trickles of electricity bleeding from the chopsaw every time we used it. I figured the ground must be bad, so I grabbed my framing square that was laying around and pounded it through the mud to solid earth, twisted a piece of copper wire through the hanging hole and and screwed it to the saw base. Worked like a charm! Now every time I pick up that particular square I notice the mashed end where I abused it with my framing hammer.
Still square tho.
Same problem, and here is how I solved it.
Tried those plastic thingies, black with yellow writing, but they get dinged, and sometimes I want to have somehing actually square (strange, hu?)
I got one of my old units (steel) and painted the numbers with white-out. It works, and I can ding the thing to make it square if I need to.
I could have used paint, too.
Quality repairs for your home.
Aaron the Handyman
Vancouver, Canada
I have some white out.....I might try that tomorrow and I'll also try the sharpie method....gotta remember to peel the fine sandpaper off of my wifes foot sander....
blueWarning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!
a true framer... he has no sandpaper!
Doubt you'll try this as its not too 'manly'....buy some bright orange fingernail polish...that's the un-manly part...use bottom of a match as brush.Better put your bi-focals on so it won't get everywhere. As Gunner said,I've used it on my gun sights,too.I DIDN'T DO IT...THE BUCK DOES NOT STOP HERE.
Thats a good idea FramerT! I'll rummage around and "borrow" some of Denise's red stuff!
blueWarning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!
I swear David, when I apprenticed, I used to carry a low angle block plane, sand paper and at least one, usually two sharp chisels in my pouch at all times....and I was a framer!
then, I learned how to cut properly and measure properly, and used proper installation techniques and the tools rusted in my pouch.
I now get it right the first time.
blue
ps I wishWarning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!
Now, Blue: I know you are an oldie like me, but any man who lets his wife use sandpaper for her poor feet has lost all his romance.
I use a new blade in my Olfa <http://www.olfa.com/Products.asp?C=2&P=6>
and have my wife soak her tender feet in a hot tub for half an hour. Then I gently take my beloved's foot and put it up on a towel already sitting on my lap. I take my super sharp knife and gently start scraping all those hard calluses and cleaning the dead skin until her foot is soft and clear. Then I start the other foot.
By the time we finish, her feet are just painless and clear. By the time she's finished with me I could not care less about framing squares.Quality repairs for your home.
Aaron the HandymanVancouver, Canada
Aaron, you sound like a loving attentive husband.....your wife is a lucky lady.
I too tend to my wife's feet. But...I don't have the time or the patience to deal with those callouses. I swear she eats a special diet that grows 1/2" thick callouses each day! She's got more leather inside her shoes than outside!
I finally solved the dilema when I brought in my palm sander. I never used it on wood anyways, so now it's part of her beauty regime!
blueWarning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!
It'll take a little bit of time, but...
Clean out all the lines and markings.
Clean the whole thing up with brake cleaner and let it completely dry.
Spray the whole thing with one coat of flat white primer. One coat. But make sure you get inside the markings... Lightly.
Now spray the whole thing with florescent orange paint.
Let cure.
Now use the palm sander to clean the whole thing up. The flo orange paint will be left in the numbers and marks.
The person you offend today, may have been your best friend tomorrow
If the etchings/stampings are worn to shallow I'm afeard nutting is gonna help.
black spray paint and sand of the rest. use rustoleum or something that will stick to oxidized alum.
I hav an old stanley alum. and got tired of squinting so I got the new one that is black w/ yeller marks.
18 bucks
Iknow you are probably fondly attached to your old one.
you could keep it and only use it when the young guys are watching.
Mr T
I can't afford to be affordable anymore
My sheet metal shear has measurements tooled into the table, but are a little worn and hard to read. I spray them with white spray paint and quickly wipe off the table, leaving paint in the numbers and marks. I sometimes use the sharpie trick, but the marks are not quite as crisp.
I invented Dullies.
Something that works well to touch up cameras and lenses is a China Marker (aka grease pencil). Get one in black or red and try rubbing it over the markings and then rubbing the excess off, maybe with rubbing alcohol. You may have to renew it periodically but it oughta get into the fine markings well.
C'mon Blue..you can't eyeball 6 and 7/12ths? I do just what Luka said..works great.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
No I can't eyeball 6/12!
I cant even see the number 6 on my squares anymore.
It sucks to get old!
blueWarning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!
I agree w/the nail polish. Halloween tends to bring out the more exciting color palette. And nail polish bottles come w/tiny brushes.
I used white to mark my aluminum storm/screen windows (NWBEDE - northwest bedroom east window). These old houses have unique window sizes, you can't interchange them.Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchyand will be deliciouswith about a pound of Samaki chocolates. (rough week)
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchyand will be deliciouswith about a pound of Samaki chocolates
Dominic DiCiacca?
I helped him build his current house, got two of his originals on my wall.
Samt
Blue,
Stanley makes one with a black body and yellow markings. Easy reading.
Even better, it has the professional tables on it, not the DIY stuff.
I found one at Orco for too much money. Paid. Found it at Lowes for $14.
The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
You mean someone actually uses those things for more than a straightedge? bwaa!
I've a couple old squares that are out of 90degrees.
Have read where one is suppose to be able to tweak them back into shape with the proper tap at the angle with a punch. My attempts have been fruitless.
Would like to get the old squares functional again in that they appear so more solid. Can see the increased taper of metal support thickening at the inside of the angle.
Anyone successfully revitalize an old classic like that?
If the angle is obtuse, hit the outside with a wide nail punch. If acute, hit the inside.
If the first shot doesn't correct it, flip it over and hit the other face.I had a steel square(an old one) which was thickest at the corner, and tapered thinner out to the ends of the legs. Not the width of the blade/tongue, but thickness. Was this the norm back then?
It isn't thinner at the ends. It is thicker at the corner.That is to strengthen it to avoid going out of square, and to keep the mass near the center, making it easier to handle. Ergonomics is not entirely a new science. Many tools and weapons are fashioned on this principle, that weight, properly placed, will make the tool nestle more comfortably to the hand that uses it.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Ah, that makes sense about the balance."It isn't thinner at the ends. It is thicker at the corner."That sounds like the lady in the German deli in town,LOL.
One day I was in there waiting for my lunch(the cleanest place in town), and a guy orders a roast beef sandwich, but he doesn't want the end cut, and says"but I don't like the end" whereas she replies, "It's not ze end, it's ze beginink". It was a fresh roast.Those Germans are way too literal. :^}
You've got my heritage pegged
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Quote: "Many tools and weapons are fashioned on this principle, that weight, properly placed, will make the tool nestle more comfortably to the hand that uses it."
A superbly crafted sentence there piffin - beautifully weighted and balanced. Sweet.
Watch out Andy, I'm after your job!not
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
thanks for the compliment, but it was more the true principle I was trying to get across than the style in which I might have expressed it.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
There you go, doing it again. ;)
Your sentence ending "that uses it" is interesting given your germanic heritage. Getting a true principle across clearly and elegantly is not easy. There's good writers hereabouts, which adds to my enjoyment of this community. Cool beans.
Anyone successfully revitalize an old classic like that?
A steel sqaure ? Nope , not many want to carry one .
Tim Mooney
I've seen those black ones with the yellow markings. They are very visible and easy to read. Unfortunalty, the one I saw had the "clever" scales on the backside, which I abhor. When I look at my square, all I want to see is 1/8 scales on the tongue, body and both sides. I don't want to make mental calculations and conversions of those dammed 12th scales and 10th scales. They might help others, but they confuse my brain functions!
Besides....I've used this same stanley homeowner square since 1988....I'm kinda attached to it.
blueWarning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!
Maybe spring for new one. Sands makes a nice one thats easy for these bifocled eyeballs to read with his glasses off. http://www.neodesha.com/sands/catalog1/cssag.html
I"ve tried the sands model. The aluminum is too brittle for a guy like me who doesn't hesitate from flying it off the second story roof to the ground near the truck. Those sands never have lasted a year with me. My stanley homowner square has been with me since 1988. It bends, I bend it back straight. It's never cracked and went out of square. The only problem is that its so scuffed up that the markings are disappearing. I figure I can get a couple more years out of it if I can fill them with something.
blueWarning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!
Blue Im not going to read the whole thread . Ive got the same problem and heres what I did ;
I cleaned the square with stripper and washed it . I painted the whole square with oil enamel undercoat . The sanding kind you put on interior wood work. I took an orbital and sanded it back to original , except the in dent marks . I did one flouresnt , but I like the white better.
be a set of readers,
Tim Mooney
Throw it away and buy a speed square.
Blue...
It's late and I need to be in bed...I didn't read the whole thread, but just one question. Why do you need to see the marks? You should know what they all are, ...if you know your "manly square!" Toss the bifocals. Sorry, I couldn't resist! ; )
Dez
ROTFLMAO
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Just wanted to let all the posters that offered advice know that I tried the nail polish thing...and got very bored trying to do a nice job. Now my squares look like french hores and I've only gotten the one inch marks done.
So...I was in the big box and found one of those black squares with yellow markings...which I can see in the store (they are so good caked with mud) and low and behold...they have only the 1/8" scales on all sides...so I bought one!
I'll give the johnson a try...but I doubt that it'll last more than six months...but you never know?!
blueWarning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!